Re: Machine design

Check out the "Build Your Own Metal Working Shop From Scrap" series
of books by Dave Gingery, offered by Lindsey Books. The series tells
you how to start with scrap (literally0 aluminum, common hardware,
hand tools and a homemade charcoal fired furnace to pour all the
castings to build machine tools. They basically follow the evolution
of machine tools, and the later books build on what has gone before,
ie; the foundery and the lathe are used to make the shaper, etc. The
books are:

1 The Charcoal Foundry
2 The Metal Lathe
3 The Metal Shaper
4 The Milling Machine (a horizontal mill close to what you described)

5 The Drill Press
6 The Dividing Head and Deluxe Accessories (includes change gears and
threading dial for the lathe)

7 Designing and Building the Sheet Metal Brake


These books are fantastic. I plan to follow the procedures to build a
custom lathe for automated production, that will have a spindle bore
of 6". The lathe in book 2 has a 3/4" spindle, but once you
understand what's going on you can design your own. Even if you never
build any of the machines in the books, they are an invaluable
education in how they work.

Also, the last couple of issues of Home Shop Machinist have had
articles in a series on building a small horizontal mill, using a
small x-y table from Enco (manual) which I think is currently on sale
for $119, up from $99.


Jeff Hayes

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., lasernerd@h... wrote:
> I'm wondering if anyone has any experience in producing machines,
> such as mills and lathes? I think it would be a lot of fun to
produce
> my own machine from scratch (well, not entirely, but mostly).
>
> Right now, I'm thinking about some kind of small horizontal
machining
> center. You don't see very many (any?) of these in a small package.
I
> understand they're usually used for large production runs, but they
> would be good and affordable for smaller shops, or people who have
a
> product, and need to manufacture some parts for it in their
basement.
>
> I like the idea of a HMC because of their (potentially) smaller
> footprint with a bigger workspace, and the inherent advantages
> present with HMC's (chips not being cut twice, etc).
>
> Some ideas about the mill are as such: The mill would have an
> envelope of something like 12X12X8" or perhaps a bit larger. The
> machine would be more suited to aluminum and other soft metals,
> although it should be able to cut steels (very important). A custom
> spindle would be produced to accept some type of standard tool
holder
> (like ISO-30 taper, or smaller). The system would include an auto
> tool changer, and auto pallet changer. I was thinking about custom
> box ways because they look so gosh darn easy to produce (milled,
> ground and lapped, or perhaps just ground steel flat stock?), yet
> very stable.
>
> The machine's super-structure would be based on steel square tube,
> probably concrete-filled for vibration dampening. Someone recently
> mentioned mounting everything on a granite surface plate, which can
> be had for, usually, $50 or so for a good sized one. I really like
> this idea.
>
> I'm playing with the idea of having the X and Y axes on the box
ways,
> and just having the Z axis as a quill.
>
> Obviously, this would not be a dirt cheap machine. However, I would
> like to keep it simple and robust (like the Taig systems) - and
very
> much capable doing work within its envelope.
>
> Does anyone have any comments on such an idea? Perhaps I'm just off
> in space right now, but it's certainly something to consider.
>
> Regards,
>
> Robin